Velociraptor (movie canon)
Films Identity The ''Velociraptor'' in the films appear to be dromaeosaurids that resembled ''Deinonychus'' and were 6 ft tall with their signature sickle claws being 6 inches. They had a resonation chamber located in their skull. According to Dr. [[Alan Grant]], they were highly intelligent, being smarter than whales and even primates, which would make the film's ''Velociraptor'' the most intelligent dinosaur that would have existed as the intelligence of ''[[Troodon]]'', the world's smartest dinosaur in real life, is comparable to the modern day opossum. So far, multiple specimens have been found in the state of [[Montana]] in [[North America]]. Dr. Grant theorized that a raptor pack would trap their prey. If potential prey saw a member of the pack it would freeze in place with the raptor would just looking back at them, as if in a standoff. Then the attack would come, not from the front, but from the flanks by other members of the pack. Though it is popularly assumed that the film's ''Velociraptor'' is a reclassified ''Deinonychus'' (and out of universe the raptors were to be and were based on this dinosaur), the [[Holoscape]] attraction of the [[Jurassic World (park)|Jurassic World]] [[Innovation Center]] suggests otherwise with ''Velociraptor'' and ''Deinonychus'' are listed as entirely separate dinosaurs. Furthermore, when a little girl selected the ''Velociraptor'' hologram of the Holoscape, she selected the ''Velociraptor'' icon rather than the icon for ''Deinonychus''. A dinosaur that in real-life resembles the film ''Velociraptor'' would be '' '', a large raptor comparable in size that was said to have a skull similar to ''Deinonychus''. Clones Among all the variations of the clones were pronated forelimbs which theropods lacked in real life. In nearly all of the variations, both sexes were featherless and were fully scaled, unlike actual dromaeosaurids. The [[Masrani backdoor]] explains that this due to a created from the mutation and manipulation of dinosaur genes as well as the addition of frog, reptile, and bird DNA that causes feathered dinosaurs to have scaled skin. This remained unnoticed by [[InGen]] until 2003 simply because at the time these clones were created there was no evidence yet for feathered dromaeosaurids.[[Masrani backdoor#RUFFLED FEATHERS|RUFFLED FEATHERS]] However, males of a crested variation seen wild on [[Isla Sorna (Movie canon)|Isla Sorna]] had quills on the top of their heads. First Variation This variant that is first one seen on-screen was closest to the fossils of ''Velociraptor'' that were found in Montana. They were sexually dimorphic, females were a brown color with green eyes while the males had a coloration similar to that of a tiger with yellow eyes. When they are born, they imprint on the first creature they come in contact with, even if this creature is not of their own species, and would be loyal to this individual.“They [raptors] imprint on the first creature they come in contact with. [...] Helps them to trust me.” - [[John Hammond]], According to [[Jurassic Park (movie park)|Jurassic Park]] game warden [[Robert Muldoon]], the raptors were "lethal" at eight months of age.“They're lethal at eight months, and I do mean lethal.” - [[Robert Muldoon]], Muldoon also claimed that the raptors were able to reach speeds of 50-60 MPH in the open and were “astonishing jumpers”.“Fifty, sixty miles per hour, if they ever got out in the open. And they're astonishing jumpers.”- [[Robert Muldoon]], In terms of behavior, these raptors did not vocalization as much as the other variants when hunting with the only instance of this behavior when a female individual called for her subordinate when hunting [[Tim Murphy|Tim]] and [[Lex Murphy]]. When hunting, they relied primarily on stealth, which might explain the limited vocalizations. The trapping method that Dr. Grant theorized for the non-clones were also once employed by the clones that lived in Jurassic Park. Like with wolves, this variant would sometimes display aggressive behavior towards packmates, usually for or to remain in control of the pack. [[The Big One]] is a notably displayed aggressive behavior throughout her life, mots notably when she killed nearly all the raptors being kept in the [[Velociraptor Paddock]] except for two.“We bred eight originally, but when she came in, she took over the pride and killed all but two of the others.”- [[Robert Muldoon]], Second Variation These raptors were much more birdlike in behavior and appearance. Their skulls were different“Science continues to progress and every year we discover new things. And now we have pretty good skulls of Velociraptor and we know that it looks different. So the skull has actually been changed to fit what we know about the animal.” - [[Jack Horner]], ''Jurassic Park III'' DVD Featurette "The Dinosaurs of ''Jurassic Park''" in that they were elongated and had crests located on the of their skull, traits which are absent in the first variant and the fossils seen in the film. Furthermore, no known dromaeosaurid in real life as been found with crests. Like with the previous variation, sexual dimorphism was present. Males were a grayish blue color with light blue horizontal striping from the start of the neck to the end of the tail. Their eyes were red and small with a blue ring around the socket. Males also possessed quills on the top of their heads as well as having red crests. The females were a beige color and had yellow eyes. Both sexes had round pupils. It is never explained in ''Jurassic Park III'' as to why the raptors that appeared in the film looked so different from the packs seen in the first two films. The closest official explanation for these differences [[John Rosengrant]] who was a part of [[Stan Winston Studio]], the company that did the practical effects for the first three films, suggests in ''Cinefex''#87 that the raptors had biologically evolved since their appearance in .“We decided to go at it with the idea that these things [the Raptors] have evolved a little bit since the last movie.” - [[John Rosengrant]], ''Cinefex''#87“Since, in this movie, the raptors have evolved and are more intelligent...” - [[John Rosengrant]], ''Cinefex''#87 Though this does provide somewhat of an official explanation, it is unclear if it is indeed the case for the film itself. [[IBRIS Project]] Variantations Story Creation Behind the scenes ''Jurassic Park'' Design The film contacted paleoontologist and requested all copies of his tenchical papers of ''Deinonychus''.Cummings, Mike. (June 18, 2015) "[http://news.yale.edu/2015/06/18/yale-s-legacy-jurassic-world Yale’s legacy in ‘Jurassic World’]". ''Yale News''. Paleoartist and researcher [[Gregory S. Paul]] did preliminary studies on the ''Velociraptor'' for the film.[http://gspauldino.com/part4.html Autobiography, Part IV] ''gspauldino.com''. Practical Effects Early in the film's development, Speilberg once entertained the idea of outfitting some of the chickens he owned with prosthetic heads, arms, and tails then letting them go berzerk on scaled down stage sets to portray the raptors until the computer animation was perfected, but he was later convinced by those close to him to discard this idea.Hallet, Mark. (Spring 2013) "Sketch me a Spitter! An Artist Remembers Jurassic Park". ''Prehistoric Times Magazine'', 105, p. 49 Ending Change CGI Sound ''The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' Indroduction of the Males Portrayal ''Jurassic Park III'' Redesign Portrayl Sound ''Jurassic World'' Notes and references